An Eclectic Feast of Food, Fiction, Folderol and Chewy Culinary Verse

November 30th already? I’ve been having so much sticky fun, I hate to see the party end (sniff)!

Cornelius’ favorite: Ashdon Farms Peanut Butter Bears

This has definitely been the nuttiest November on record here at Alphabet Soup. So glad all you giddy goober peas emerged from your solitary shells, sent in poems, and feasted with us every Friday. At first I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d be spreading it on thick or thin, but thanks to all the generous Peanut Butter Poets, we had just the right amount of food to savor and digest each week. I’m so glad Father Goose Charles Ghigna initially suggested a Peanut Butter Poets Poll. It was the perfect excuse inspiration to turn a singles poll dance into a month-long poetry party. 🙂

Peanut Butter Cheese Ball via The Girl Who Ate Everything

We’re topping things off today with another lipsmacking menu that brings to mind Santa and his elves. Actually, Santa never had it so good with this bevy of beauties: Linda Baie, Cathy Ballou Mealey, Betsy Hubbard, Mary Lee Hahn, and Renée LaTulippe. And Santa himself? None other than our brilliant, beloved (and oh so cuddly) Children’s Poet Laureate, J. Patrick Lewis (who, BTW, is also this week’s Eye Candy)! No, we don’t mess around here. We serve up only THE BEST.

Are you ready?

Help yourself to a Peanut Butter Cup mustache (nibble gently, close your eyes, and think of Pat),

Mustache Peanut Butter Cups via Treats for my Sweets

put on these magic peanut slippers,

(One size fits all in Neverland)

and once again, go full-tilt, shell-shocked, cracked to the nines NUTS!

If peanut butter be the food of love, spread on . . .

* * * * *

♥ LINDA BAIE ♥

I have been all over the place with my likes through the years, but lately the best for my taste buds, with apples, is Jif natural creamy. I used to love chunky, but my grandson finally persuaded me to change, & I did for him, of course. For a treat, my daughter says to have honey roasted peanuts ground at Whole Foods. My friends who know how much I love peanut butter keep telling me to try cashew butter, but I still haven’t. Maybe someday! I am loyal to my PB.

PB THOUGHTS

peanut butter
yes, you oughter
add marshmallow
for fluffer-nutter

better than those other treats
it’s really really
good to eat
(jelly topping makes it sweet)

apple slices
will entice
when adding some
peanut delight

and do remember
when late at night
you feel the need
for something light

just dip a spoonful
from the jar
then add some Ritz
for a snackin’ blitz

I’m 100% neutral to the brand and smoothness or creaminess of the PB as long as there is an equal proportion of Nutella on the bread, toast, or waffle!

. . . there is one last unfilled category near and dear to my heart, peanut sesame noodles. I fell in love with them at an MIT haunt called Mary Chung’s, where the addictive dun dun noodles with shredded chicken were an absolute mouth-burning must. I’d be remiss if I didn’t send you my ode to the ever-delightful, endlessly delicious Mary Chung dun dun noodles.

My favorite brand is Naturally Nutty. They have amazing flavors and all kinds of nut butters, but my favorite is Butter Toffee Peanut Butter. It has flax seeds and hemp seeds in it to add to the crunch and the healthiness.

It’s a good thing I’m not much for brand loyalty, since the only PB brand I’ve found in my area in Italy is the Dutch brand Calvé. And it’s gooood. Very dense and smooth (97% peanuts!) and yummy with strawberry jam. Only problem is that the jars are too small (Italians are not given to excess).

Boxing Day PBJ Sandwich by Lee Zalben

BUTTERLY LOVE

I suppose baloney
would do in a pinch
or even pastrami
piled an inch
high on some rye
a swipe of dijon —
that most fragrant
of sandwich-cologne
but I’d never betray
you, my legume love
now you spin me
in this nutty
OBSESSION
I’m jelly before
your butterly beckoning
and this is my
confession:
with cold cuts, pâtés,
spreads, I’m through
because, PB,
I’m stuck on you.

Ho ho! Nothing finer than an off kilter recipe concocted by the one and only to officially ring in December merrymaking!

Pat: I’m a chunky kind of guy — literally! Ha.

Holiday Peanut Blossoms

CHRISTMAS PEANUT BUTTER COOKIE RECIPE

Though ingredients can be identified only underelectron microscopes not yet invented, try to find,then combine:An ebenezer of anti-humbug flourA pot of rainbow residueUnicorn tears2 dew drops from a Middle-Earth flower4 Chicken Little egg yolksA learical of peanuts from the rare Bong-treeA paradise of charlie brown sugar

Add entire contents to a sieve that’s been to sea.Stir with the whisk broom of a garden gnome.Roll into succulent circles, then spork.Bake at 350° on INDESCRIBABLE.Let cool past impatience.Share (if you must).

Was that as good for you as it was for me? Oh, so magical! I especially love “the whisk broom of a garden gnome.”

Wonder if you can smoke those Bong-tree peanuts? 🙂

It was also interesting to hear what things peanut butter does and does not go with, and to have Cathy add some spice to the mix. I’ve since learned about a few other combinations I’d be hesitant to try, among them, PB with pickles, olives, Marmite, horseradish, and onions (Ernest Hemingway liked thick slices in his PB sandwiches). But I really need to break out of my PB&J-only mindset, since PB is great in soup (made my first batch recently) as well as in stir fry sauces and salad dressings. I will heretofore follow up on all my “butterly beckonings.”

Good to know: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s preferred last meal would be Toasted Wonder Bread, melted Skippy Super Chunky PB, bananas and bacon (he’s an Elvis-y kinda guy).

But wait! There’s more!

* * * * *

PB vs. Jelly by Lee Zalben (Nutropolitan Museum of Art)

♥ PEANUT BUTTER POLL RESULTS ♥

Truth be told, choosy moms are still choosing Jif®. It’s touted all the time as America’s #1 favorite and our poll confirmed that. Jif was an early frontrunner and never lost its lead. Second to Jif was the “Other” category, followed by Skippy, Peter Pan, and last, lonely Smuckers. More Jif fans preferred creamy to crunchy.

Of those who chose other brands or had no particular brand preference, more females liked chunky/crunchy, disproving the theory that women usually go for creamy.

The willingness of both genders to try new brands reflects a more health-conscious, food-savvy society taking full advantage of the seeming endless variety of choices currently available. Among the U.S. brands mentioned:

Teddie

MaraNatha

Crazy Richards

Naturally Nutty

PB2 (powdered form)

East Wind

Trader Joe’s

Smart Balance

Planter’s

Sheesh! I’m old mature enough to remember when Skippy ruled supreme and how big a deal it was when Jif first came on the scene (1958). Needn’t feel sorry for Smuckers brand — the J.M. Smuckers Co. owns the Jif trademark along with a whole bunch of others (Pillsbury®, Crisco®, Dunkin’ Donuts®, Folgers®, et. al.)

This poll was so much fun, I’ve decided to do a different poll every week, so please visit the sidebar often (and bring refreshments)! 🙂

* * * * *

STICKY THANKS ONCE AGAIN TO ALL THE PEANUT BUTTER POETS!! AND THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR CELEBRATING PEANUT BUTTER LOVERS MONTH WITH US HERE AT ALPHABET SOUP!

That’s truly uncanny!! Does your Aunt Mae make fruitcake? I’m probably the only one left on this earth who actually likes fruitcake — it has to be homemade, light and buttery, though, none of the packaged store-bought stuff. I love that your sieve has been to sea :). Thanks for joining the party and professing your undying PB love and devotion!!

I don’t think she makes fruitcake, but she is a good cook. Now, I wondered…is fruitcake the same as panettone, the sweet Italian bread with candied fruit and raisins in it? If so, I ate one for dinner the other night. Delicious!

Thanks for sharing everyone’s ‘butterly beckonings’, Jama! These are all fun poems…just make sure you don’t overindulge with Pat’s “Bong-tree” – that could get you in trouble. 😉 As far s the PB and pickles…I’ll hold off on trying that until I get pregnant.

Jama, you are the researcher extraordinaire! Here I have been eating PB for years, & never knew there were so many ways that others were showing their love for it. The pictures again are divine, and I love all the other poems of PB love & whimsy. It looks like a good book for you to pursue! Thanks again for including me. BTW-a long time ago I had a student who brought PB & pickle relish sandwiches in his lunch. Your post brought back that funny memory. It’s been a terrific month of fun!

Thanks for your tasty contribution, Linda — it led me to discovering those white chocolate cookies that uses Ritz crackers! I’m constantly amazed at what people invent. Sounds like the PB + pickles combo is an unsung favorite — I will have to try it and report back.

Great post, Jama! Fun poems from all your poets. I’m wondering how much an “ebenezer” is? I have plenty of anti-humbug flour. The peanut butter and pickle sandwich looked pretty good to me, and Mayor Bloomberg’s sandwich sounded good, too. Maybe I need some breakfast…

Oh what a marvelous month you have celebrated in word, photo and recipe Jama! Thank you for including my ode to the mouth-burning, tongue-tingling, addictive Dun Dun noodles from Mary Chung’s. All the tasty treats and peanut butter poems have been marvelous Mmm, mmm, mmm.

A perfect final act for this month of nutty fun! Jama, your compilation/recipe-and-photo-finding/pithy-description-skills are beyond compare. Thanks to Linda, Cathy, Betsy, Mary Lee, and Renée for these creamy, crunchy contributions. (And of course Renee has a sieve that’s been to sea…!) Red hats off to J. Patrick Lewis for the perfect recipe to transition us from this peanutty party into the holidays.

(Oh, and Jama I thought of you a couple-three (?) weeks ago when CBS Sunday Morning had a bit on peanut butter and pickle sandwiches – then read about them here these last couple of weeks, too!)

So glad you joined us this month, Robyn — now I know of two cool PB poems written by you. You’re right — Pat’s poem is perfection in more ways than one. His bevy of beautiful elves came through with wonderful poems too.

I think I might have seen that CBS morning segment. Can’t escape those pickles!

This whole series was so awesome. It was great to be part of the line up of peanut poets today, thank you. I love what you found for beets and peanut butter, sooo hilarious. I pictured you looking for all the pics and info to make this post and feeling victorious with the sushi and beet combinations!

You know me too well! I was excited to see the PB and beet combinations. I’d heard of beets in cake before, but wasn’t sure if anyone had actually used PB in the frostings. Thanks for writing such a fun poem. I think you should make those cupcakes sometime :).

I think this has been one of the best months. I love all this nuttiness. The poetry, the pictures, all the delicious treats, everything is wonderful. And to think you’ve left a way for us to come back and visit is the best. Thanks, Jama.

I don’t know why it is so, but I always get to your posts when I am most hungry, Jama…and whew! what a lot of treats to enjoy here – as Linda’s poem notes:
it’ll fill your tum
make you hum
peanut butter
yum and yum
Thank you, Jama, for another delicious feast of a post!

I used to make peanut butter cookies, Jama and I would also place melted chocolate as a topping along with sprinkles. Now I am inspired to bake those cookies again and put chocolate kisses instead on top, I think that would be wonderful. Perhaps for my daughter’s birthday? We shall see how that goes. 🙂

Wow! I had no idea so much information and ideas existed for the use of peanut butter. If my husband were to make the peanut butter and cheese ball for us, I’d get fat in a week. Maybe he can prepare it for a potluck and then we can eat the leftovers. 🙂 The peanut butter Christmas cookies would make a great seasonal variation on a much-beloved treat, My dad loves chess and so I sent him a link to the picture of the peanut butter and jam chess game. Thanks for sharing!

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